The President of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions has many concerns with plans by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to restructure health care.
And Michael Hurley hopes the Ford government holds public consultations so that OCHU and other groups and people can voice their concerns.
Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli says the overhaul will reduce wait times and end hallway medicine.
However, Hurley says “lurking behind the proposed legislation is the privatization of health care, nursing home inspections and laboratories”.
Hurley says the employees the hospital unions represent were not asked about what changes they would like to see in health.
Hurley says the last time a Progressive Conservative government undertook a major health restructuring it cost $3.2 billion more than it saved according to the Auditor General.
A major concern for Hurley is the government plan to create a Super Agency to replace the existing regional agencies like the Local Health Integration Networks.
He says before that Super Agency can be formed, employees with existing agencies will need to be laid off and that means severances.
“This is a health care system that needs investment,” Hurley said.
“It can’t afford to be moving money for exit packages for CEOs for example. There won’t be savings if history is any judge. There will be expenditures and this is happening at a time when this government is committed to restraints.”
Hurley believes residents in the North Bay region should be concerned about the restructuring because the area may face a double whammy.
He believes hospitals in small communities like Sturgeon Falls, Mattawa and New Liskeard will see some services transferred to North Bay.
“This may initially seem like a good thing for people who live in North Bay,” Hurley said.
“But actually, of course, people (patients) are coming with those services and the backlog will intensify in these regional centres and access to care will worsen in the small centres.”
Hurley says OCHU represents many health care sector workers and he says none of them were consulted about how to change the present system.
“So if you want to build a team, how do you do that if you don’t ask the team members what they think the problems are,” Hurley said.
“Who said there was a problem with Cancer Care Ontario that required restructuring or who asked that air ambulance or nursing home inspections be privatized? Where did these ideas come from”?
Hurley says it’s the Ontario Health Coalition’s intention to have a meeting in North Bay to mobilize the public about how to deal with the issue.
Hurley says a major rally is planned at Queen’s Park for April 30th and the goal is to have buses from the North Bay, Sudbury and New Liskeard regions make the trip.